


Almost

by Shatterpath



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: 5 Times, Character Study, Gen, Prequel, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 19:08:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8339287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: 5 times the Ghostbusters almost met before they did.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been wanting to do a '5 Times' for ages because I'm not sure I have ever done this particular challenge. If I have, it was ages ago! So, a few days ago this idea came to me and I've been poking and prodding at it. Oddly, Abby, Holtz and Patty were easy (though I had to fiddle Patty's dialog a bit) and I had real trouble with Erin and Kevin. But, in the end, I like what I came up with.

Love the science, hate the crowd. 

It might as well be a mantra chanted like a monk at prayer, the rhythmic refrain of it providing some calm. There was a lot of things Jillian did to keep calm, to keep her smarter gray matter overriding the animal neurons that would sometimes try to take over from the base brain outward. There were yellow lenses to filter harsher light-- and were stylin' to boot-- and loose clothes to ensure she didn't feel too constricted-- the older and softer the better-- her hair pulled up of the back of her neck, yet never cropped short. The weight of it pulling on her scalp was grounding. There was even her old swiss army knife in her pocket for restless fingers and boy how she hated flying because she had to leave it in her luggage.

A glass of water between panels would soothe her dry throat, but there was no way she was braving the crowd by the snacks. Even the reward of truly higher science wasn't worth that chaos. Unless maybe there was a Dr Pepper as incentive… that might do it.

The water gurgled pleasantly from the big cooler, the plastic cup instantly cold against her palm and fingers. But the pleasantness evaporated into chaos again as a new flood of people poured out of another lecture hall in a flood of noise and movement.

It was too much and a jostle made Jillian jump like a startled cat and a woman's voice shrieked in shock as the cold water struck home. There was a brief image of tweed suit, elegant, sinewy hands and darkly red hair before the crowd swallowed them both up like so much flotsam.

Love the science, hate the crowd. 

 

\----

If there was one reality that those not born of New York City had trouble getting used to, it was the subway.

And Erin was definitely not born of the city.

The platform was crowded, as usual, commuters and students and weirdoes preparing to pack in like cows to a slaughterhouse. Erin did her best to be calm, to focus past the buzz of constant brain noise that bombarded at her about everything from whether or not she had enough oatmeal to make cookies to reams of math that defined her beloved physics. As her train arrived, she shifted forward to board along with dozens of others.

A rough jostle startled Erin from her ordinary morning, someone a moving shade too close, her briefcase and purse yanked from her shoulder. Even as she whipped around in reflex, there was a blur of another body dressed in that shade of blue that universally meant 'uniform'. The purse snatcher staggered from a brutal shove and the blue-shirted stranger-- a tall woman, Erin noted distantly-- had briefcase and purse in hand, tugging them up her arm and scooping Erin into the train just as the doors were hissing shut.

Completely baffled, she whipped around to press her cheek to the glass and gawk at her rescuer, briefly noting beautiful dark skin and hair, the glittering gold hoops at her ears. How she wished she could have at least said thank you to the stranger for saving her things, her morning and her peace of mind. It was certainly a wonderful reminder of all the good things that New York could be, the matter-of-fact helping hand with no acknowledgement needed. Just one human being looking out for another human being.

Buoyed by the encounter that could have ruined her day if not her month, Erin would buck up, would pass on her love of physics, would finish preparing for the tenure track that was rightfully hers. In the meantime, she relaxed into the familiar motion of the subway and gave a last, warm thought to the stranger.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly, hoping that the universe would somehow pass on her intent. 

 

\----

"Really? What do I have to do to get a cab around here, put on a grass skirt and do the hula?"

Exasperated and grown weary of the thundering downpour, Patty waved again and again as a steady procession of yellow cabs whirred back and forth.

"Hey! Why you gotta be like that? Man, I'd flash some goodies if wasn't rainin' like I'm on the set of some disaster porn movie."

A rumble of thunder finally heralded a cab noticing the tall woman and sidling up to the curb and Patty breathed a sigh of relief.

"'Bout damn time."

Yanking open the back door, she startled when some jerk in a trenchcoat tried to poach her cab.

"Oh, no you didn…"

Before her outrage could find an outlet, a tiny, round-ish projectile of a woman rocketed out of nowhere to body-check the poacher into the side of the cab. All Patty could see was a shock of dark hair in a high ponytail and the arm of thick, black glasses above a round cheek. The rocket might be small, but the surprise hit earned a pained grunt and dropped the jerk like newborn giraffe.

It was a thing of beauty.

"Thank you," Patty yelled after her unexpected knight in shining armor, who fired off a distracted wave of acknowledgement. 

She was pretty sure the stranger never looked up once from her smartphone.

 

\----

Completely incensed to not be able to reach anything higher than a lanky fourth grader could, Abby was just about ready to let loose. "What? Is this entire planet built for giants? Can't I just get a simple box of crackers without feeling like a mutant koala bear? No wait, that doesn't work. A damn koala bear could climb! I can't eat soup without crackers, there's some sort of universal law against that, I just know it."

Grocery shopping should not come with so much drama, she got enough of that in her real life enough, thank you. She'd been alone a long time, fighting impossible odds against a whole world that would not believe, though at least she finally had a partner again. Amazing what a difference that made, soothing her roughest edges and giving her some calm so that the intellect could assert itself fully. The world would listen to her even if she had to scream into the void until it took her for good.

The science was real, dammit!

As incensed as always over the sheeple's stupidity and being so damn short, Abby was just about to get herself a full head of steam when someone was suddenly in her space, looming large. Well, everyone loomed large, but that had never stopped Abby Yates from being a fighter and she would take this lanky freak down with her!

The lanky freak that was humming happily in a baritone voice as he crowded her against the rack.

An avalanche of boxes clattered down, Abby having to desperately scramble to try and catch them all, half dropping and half setting down her shopping basket which was quickly buried. Showing nothing of his face but a goofy grin trapped between a ridiculous hat and an armload of dog food and beer, the big beefcake was sauntering away, nearly tripping over nothing as he exited the aisle.

That left a baffled Abby with a geometric landscape of cracker varieties before shaking a fist after him in exasperation. "Saved by a mountain gorilla. Great. You must be from out of town, buddy!"

Oh well, at least she had her crackers now.

 

\----

The harsh lighting throwing deep shadows around the arena were making Kevin's eyes ache. Rubbing at the sides of his head, he did his best to minimize the movement so that he wouldn't give himself away. After all, these were the finals and he didn't want to disappoint his friends. Though he was getting bored and couldn't quite decide if he needed to buy dog food or not. 

There had been some yelling earlier, but he had paid it no mind. He could barely understand them because everyone talked funny in New York. And they never seemed to understand exactly what he was talking about. They didn't seem real bright, but he liked it here anyway. Snow made for better hat wearing and everyone was so nice, even the ones that yelled. Though not if they were on the phone. That just made his eyes hurt.

Football might have brought him to the USA, but playing with all those pads and that stupid helmet-- not to mention the ridiculous-looking field and all of its lines-- hadn't worked out for him. And the coach had sent him off with a nice, red-faced screaming jag that left Kevin feeling like the man was going to miss him. Could have done without the spittle flying everywhere, but at least he got his favorite hat when coach left it behind him after the farewell.

Acting was even more fun, even if the instructions made no sense at all. Stage left and stage right always got so confusing when he had to pause and turn his back to the seats to figure out what he was doing. So that wasn't working out real well either and he needed to get some money or he was going to lose his couch and be out with nothing but his luggage. So he had to try really hard to win at this hide and seek tournament and win the twenty dollars!

The call finally rang out, a low, throaty woman's voice carrying through the quiet. "Ready or not, here I come!"

Eagar for the best part of the game, because they were playing Home Base Rules tonight, Kevin forced himself to stand loosely, knowing that tension in his big frame could give him away. Minutes ticked by, three people moaning about being found, before a tiny scuff of sound warned him. Though when a small body dropped from the overhang just above his head, Kevin did catch his breath a bit in surprise. Crouching, the hunter paused there, a head of fluffy blonde hair swiveling around in search of prey. He saw apple cheeks and a wild grin below bright blue eyes like his own as she was inevitably about to catch him. Then someone else broke cover and she raced off, cackling in delight.

Satisfied, he resettled himself to not run for home. If she caught the other player, he won and that made him happy.


End file.
